Summer is here and, as a teacher, I feel like this "time off" is a prime time to try something new with my health and weight loss. Most of you know by now that my MAJOR focus in losing weight has been diet and nutrition. Granted, I have been much more active during this time, but I haven't actually trained for anything or started any significant exercise regimen. I wrote a post here explaining why...(3 Reasons That Exercise is NOT the Key to Weight Loss).

Now that I am in a really good place with my eating and nutrition, I am looking to start a fitness strategy to add on to what I am already doing. So, here are my goals for this summer...

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Stephen's Summer Health Goals

Ok, I'm just going to go ahead and say it....I want to be AT MY GOAL WEIGHT by the end of the summer. For many years, I have set myself a goal of getting down to 220 pounds, and now that I am 20 pounds away, I feel like this goal is definitely within reach. How do I plan on doing this? Here's my plan...

1. Weight Training

I am committing this summer to do a full body strength training workout twice a week. For me, this is going to include mostly bodyweight and dumbbell exercises that can be done almost anywhere. No excuses...I will do this at least twice a week no matter what.

Why add this?

First, whenever you lose a significant amount of weight, you will most always lose some muscle mass along with the fat. I'd like to gain back a bit of muscle that I may have lost over the past two years.

Second, lean muscle mass actually helps burn fat more efficiently. Basically, any muscle mass that I build will help me with fat burning in general.

Third, the actual workouts will get my heart rate up and increase my overall fitness. I don't plan on hanging out in a gym for 3 hours. I will take very short breaks between sets, allowing my heart rate to stay elevated for the entire workout.

Overall, I feel like this strength training regimen will greatly help me toward my goal.

2. Train For a Race (5K or 10K)

Another way of increasing my overall fitness is to turn my long walks into runs. As I've lost weight, I've noticed that any time I go walking, it is easier and easier to break into a jog / run to get my heart rate up.

So, this summer, I plan on intentionally training for a race to see how my body responds to this. I will first go through a "Couch to 5k" program and then reassess from there to see if I want to venture into the 10K range...we'll see.

3. Stay On The PLAN!

This is vitally important and needs to be said. I will NOT allow this increased exercise to get me off of my eating plan:

-I will not justify overeating because I worked out so hard.

-I will not reward myself with junk food.

-I will use healthy, real foods to fuel my body.

No trade-offs. I am simply adding exercise to my current eating plan to boost my health and weight loss.

How About You?

Are you committing this summer to increase your health and fitness? If so, leave a comment below with your goals. We can all encourage each other with this. I will post updates on my progress over the summer to let you know how I am doing.